Hello, Comrade. I'm Here to Marry You!

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: I Came Here to Marry You

But it seemed her life in Jiang City wasn’t as good as he had imagined.

He’d assumed she was some pampered princess, but it turned out she had a stepmother.

Xie Huaizheng looked at Su Zhaozhao’s hand on his arm.

Small and fair, it was a stark contrast to his own tanned, rough hands.

They were so close he could smell the faint scent of jasmine on her.

He stiffened and pulled away.

The train was preparing to depart, so Xie Huaizheng headed back, and Su Zhaozhao followed him to the dining car.

The personnel for this mission were all in the dining car: five soldiers and four public security officers. Zhang Ming was there as well.

He had passed out from the pain, and the doctor on the train could only stop the bleeding for now, just enough to keep him alive.

Any surgery would have to wait until they reached West State.

"Your mother has passed away?"

Su Zhaozhao nodded. "She passed away when I was eight."

He’d never heard that. Then again, he wouldn’t pay attention to his grandfather’s old comrades; he barely paid attention to his own family.

"You came all this way... Does your family know you’re here?"

Su Zhaozhao nodded. "They know."

’She had run away in secret, but now that she was gone, her family would certainly know. So, technically, it wasn’t a lie.’

Su Zhaozhao also handed out the pastries she had brought to the others in the car.

Xiao Yuanming smiled gratefully at Su Zhaozhao. "Miss Su, the pastries from Jiang City are really exquisite."

"Just call me Zhaozhao. And you are?" Su Zhaozhao replied with easy grace.

"I’m Xiao Yuanming, a soldier under the battalion commander." Xiao Yuanming scratched his head sheepishly under her gaze.

Xie Huaizheng scoffed and kicked Xiao Yuanming’s leg.

"Do I not feed you enough? What’s with all the brown-nosing?"

"This is different! Zhaozhao is your fiancée, Battalion Commander." Xiao Yuanming rubbed his leg and then said to Su Zhaozhao, "Don’t go back to your seat. Stay and sit with us in the dining car for a bit. We’ll be there in half an hour."

Su Zhaozhao thanked Xiao Yuanming again and sat down across from Xie Huaizheng.

Everyone knew that Su Zhaozhao was Xie Huaizheng’s fiancée, and after what she’d just been through, they were all quite attentive to her.

But Su Zhaozhao was troubled. She knew that Xie Huaizheng didn’t want her anywhere near him.

Xie Huaizheng had been resting with his eyes closed, but Su Zhaozhao’s gaze was so intense that he couldn’t ignore it even with his eyes shut.

Xie Huaizheng had no choice but to open his eyes, looking at Su Zhaozhao with a warning. "Stop staring at me."

Su Zhaozhao immediately broke into a smile, stood up, and went to get some water.

By the time she returned, Zhang Ming had woken up.

Their eyes met, and Zhang Ming immediately blurted out, "Miss, I was wrong just now. I’m begging you, please spare me. I know I was wrong."

"I’m an orphan. I grew up wild, with no one to raise me, no one to teach me right from wrong. That’s why I lost my way and did some terrible things. I truly regret it now. Can you please talk to those officers and ask them to let me go?"

When he wasn’t looking ferocious, Zhang Ming’s features could actually be described as kind and approachable. Especially now, begging for mercy with his salt-and-pepper hair, he looked just like an honest, innocent middle-aged man.

In the many cases Su Zhaozhao had come across, the killers rarely had any strange or distinctive features. Most of them, in fact, looked no different from ordinary people.

Sometimes, when they weren’t showing their true colors, they could even give off an approachable, disarming vibe.

That way, others would let their guard down, making it easier for them to strike.

The public security officer guarding Zhang Ming immediately snapped, "Shut up! Not another word! We’re past the point of begging for mercy!"

’This Zhang Ming is too cunning. Does he think he can play on her sympathy just because she’s a young girl?’

Zhang Ming looked at Su Zhaozhao with pitiful, pleading eyes.

Xiao Yuanming instinctively started walking toward Su Zhaozhao, worried she might be fooled by the scoundrel.

Xie Huaizheng remained seated by the window, his long fingers tapping lightly on the tabletop. Zhang Ming had deceived so many victims, but today he had likely met his match. This girl was even better at winning sympathy than he was. Could she be fooled by a few simple words? He refused to believe it.

Sure enough, the next moment, Su Zhaozhao’s soft voice sounded. "Is this the same method you used to deceive your other victims?"

Zhang Ming froze. Xiao Yuanming stopped in his tracks.

"A true hunter often disguises itself as prey, right? You act pitiful to win sympathy, then you strike and kill when their guard is down. I imagine your victims were all young women, around my age. Because they’re the most compassionate, and you use that compassion to lure them to secluded, empty places to make your move. It worked for you every time, so you thought I’d be just the same, didn’t you?"

Everyone in the train car was shocked. None of them had told Su Zhaozhao about the case, so how could she possibly know?

Although the killer had claimed many victims, they had done their best to keep the matter quiet, fearing it would cause a public panic.

Only the locals knew about it, let alone the specific details. How did she know the victims were around her age?

’Did Xie Huaizheng tell her?’

Some of them looked toward Xie Huaizheng, who simply shrugged, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Su Zhaozhao with a deep, inscrutable expression.

The next moment, Su Zhaozhao opened the lid of her water bottle, releasing a cloud of steam.

Zhang Ming’s face went pale. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I really am just as timid as they were. A murderer like you is talking to me, and you’ve scared me so much my hot water spilled by accident. I didn’t do it on purpose, boo hoo..."

As the girl’s soft, helpless voice trailed off, she ruthlessly poured the hot water in her hands all over Zhang Ming.

Zhang Ming let out a blood-curdling scream, but an officer quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

Everyone now looked at Su Zhaozhao with newfound respect.

The murderer was depraved, but they were bound to handle him by the book. Su Zhaozhao, however, had managed to get him twice, and both times it was clearly self-defense.

And in doing so, she’d given Zhang Ming a taste of real pain.

Xie Huaizheng let out a short laugh. ’See? I knew it. How could Su Zhaozhao possibly be fooled by someone like him?’

「The train arrived in West State.」

Zhang Ming was handed over to the public security officers, while Xie Huaizheng and his group prepared to leave for the military district.

The military district was still a two-hour drive from the train station.

Their vehicle was already waiting for them at the station exit.

After getting off the train, Su Zhaozhao trailed Xie Huaizheng like a shadow, following him all the way to a black Jeep.

Xie Huaizheng turned and glared at her. "Do you need me to buy you a ticket home?"

Su Zhaozhao shook her head. "I don’t want to go back. I’m staying with you."

"Brother Zheng, why don’t you just let her come with us? The poor girl looks so pitiful all alone," Xiao Yuanming chimed in.

The others also chimed in, trying to persuade him.

Xie Huaizheng laughed in exasperation. "Whose soldiers are you, mine or hers?"

Su Zhaozhao quickly cut in, "Don’t make things difficult for them. This is my problem. I can’t go back."

"Why?" Xie Huaizheng demanded, his patience clearly wearing thin.

"Because the real reason I came here was to marry you."